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A
Access Number
The telephone number dialed by the modem that lets a
computer communicate with an online service or Internet
Service Provider.
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AIFF
One Format of Mac Sound Files. |
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Anonymous
FTP
A
service available at some Internet sites that gives any
user access to data files and applications using FTP.
With anonymous FTP, users don't need a special password
to retrieve files. They are available to the public.
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Anti-Virus
Program
Software that monitors a computer for viruses
and eliminates them before damage occurs. |
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ARPANet
Advanced
Research Projects Agency Network. Considered the
forefather of the Internet. A network created
in the 1960's that was maintained by the U.S. Department
of Defense to facilitate communications between research
facilities and universities.
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ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. This
code maps letters and other symbols, like periods and
commas, to numbers that your computer can understand. |
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B
Bandwidth
A measurement of how much information can be transmitted
at a given time over the Internet. |
BBS
Bulletin Board System. A dial-in service that usually
provides information, software, and technical support on
a focused topic. |
Bit
Binary Digit. The smallest unit of data a computer can
handle. Each "bit" has a value of 1 or 0 that
the computer interprets as "on" or
"off" respectively. |
Bookmarking
A way of storing pointers to favorite Web sites in your browser. |
Boolean
A common system of logic that operators such as AND, OR, NOR, and NOT.
Commonly used by search
engines. |
BPS
Bits Per Second. Measurement of the speed at which data can be transmitted
over a telephone or network line. |
Browser
An application that displays a Web page. Also known as a Web
browser. |
Byte
Equal to either 7 or 8 bits, depending on whether it requires an extra
bit, called a parity bit, for error correction. A byte stores a single
character of information such as the letter A. |
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Chat
Live communication over the Internet
Relay Chat service or an online service. As one person enters text it
appears on the other person's screen in "real time", or almost
instantly. |
Client/Server
A relationship between programs running on separate machine in a computer
network. The server is the provider of services, while the client is the
consumer of the services. |
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Data Encryption
A process that transforms information into random streams of bits to
create a secret code for data security. |
Domain
Name
Denotes the name of a specific Internet area controlled by a company,
school, or organization. |
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Email
Electronic Mail. Text
messages sent through a network to specified individual or group. Email
messages can also carry attached files. |
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FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions. A FAQ is generally a list of questions and
answers about a specific subject. Most news
groups have FAQ's, which should be read before you post any message to
them. |
FTP
File Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol that allow the viewing,
downloading, and uploading of files on remote computers. |
Firewall
Software or
hardware that limits certain kinds of access to a computer from a network
or other outside source. |
Flame
An argumentative Newsgroups
posting or email message
in response to another posting or message. |
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GIF
Graphic Interchange Format. A bit-mapped color graphics file format that
is the preferred one to use if you want to put a graphic (as opposed to a
photo) on a Web page. |
Gig
Approximately one billion bytes, or one thousand megabytes. |
Gopher
A browsing and searching protocol that lets you find and retrieve text and
files. |
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Helper App
Add-on applications that support sound, image, and other formats that your
browser can't
support by itself. |
HTML
Hypertext Markup Language. The standard for adding tags to a text file, so
that the file is able to be interpreted by a Web browser. |
HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The Internet protocol that the Web uses to
send information to the client, so the client browser can view Web pages. |
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Icon
A small abstract graphic representation of an object or idea. |
Image
Map
A graphic image that's used on a Web site as a navigational tool. It's
made up of two elements: The graphic that you see on the page through your
browser, and a text file that contains the link information. |
Interlaced
GIF
A GIF that is written so that when it is downloaded, it looks like it is
out of focus and then gradually comes into focus. |
IP
Address
The number that identifies your machine as unique on the Internet. Without
it, you can not use any Internet protocols. |
IRC
Internet Relay Chat. The Internet's version of a CB radio, IRC lets you
join a channel and converse
in real-time with other people who are on the same channel, through
text-based typing. |
ISDN
Integrated Services
Digital Network. Digital telephony scheme that allows two simultaneous
connections over the same wire; can include audio and data. |
ISP
Internet Service Provider.
A company that provides direct access
to the Internet. |
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Java
An object-oriented, cross-platform programming language, similar to C++,
that is designed for building applications for the Internet. |
JPEG
Joint Photographic Expert Group. A file format using a compression
technique to reduce the size of a graphics file by as much as 96 percent.
JPEG is the preferred file format to use if you want to put a photograph
on a Web page. |
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LAN
Local-Area Network. A group of computers, usually in one building, that
are physically connected in a way that lets them communicate and interact
with each other. |
Link
A word or phrase emphasized in a hypertext document that acts as a pointer
to related information. Links in a Web browser are usually underlined and
are a different color than the rest of the text. |
Lurking
Reading online messages or chat room conversations without taking part in
the discussion. Users are encouraged to lurk in the Newsgroups
or chat rooms until
they have some idea what the discussion is about an the style is like. |
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Mailing List
Discussion groups over the Internet that link a group of people together
with common interests. If you belong to a mailing list, you receive every
message posted to that list via email. |
Mail
Server
A computer that holds email
messages for clients on a network. |
MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface. A standard that lets electronic
musical devices communicate with each other. Music stored in MIDI format
contains instructions for playing the music, rather than the digitized
audio signal itself. |
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. MIME types are extensions to files
that tell your computer what kind of program to use to view the file. |
Modem
A device that translates computer signals to analog signals suitable for
send across phone lines. |
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'Netiquette
Slang for the unwritten rules of Internet courtesy. |
Newsgroups
An area on the Internet reserved for discussion of a certain topic.
Messages are posted in the Newsgroups
and replies are encouraged. |
News
Server
A remote computer that controls access to a Newsgroups
in a group of interconnected computers. |
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Packets
A block of data that can be transmitted from one computer to another on a
network like the Internet. A packet
contains data to be transmitted, data to guide the packet, and data that
corrects errors along the way. |
PDF
Portable Document Format. A standard used by Adobe Acrobat to display any
sort of document on any computer. The Adobe
Acrobat Reader can be downloaded as freeware. |
PICT
The default graphics format on Macintoshes. |
Portal
A fancy name for the "start-up" page of a Web browser. This is
the entry point of
the Web. |
PPP
Point-to-Point Protocol. A communications protocol that lets users connect
their computers directly to the Internet through phone lines. |
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RealAudio
A helper app that allows you to download sound files over Web pages in
real-time. The player can be downloaded
as freeware. |
Router
A specialized machine that runs various protocols to direct network packets
from one segment to another. |
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Search Engine
A utility that locates resources via searches for keywords and phrases. Click
here for a large list of search engines. |
Shareware
Software
distributed via the honor system. You download shareware from the
Internet, try it out, and if you keep it, are expected to pay a shareware
fee. |
Shell
Account
When you log into this kind of account, the computer you log into is
connected to the Internet, but your computer isn't. |
Slip/PPP
Account
When you log into this kind of account, your computer is actually
connected to the Internet, and so is fully capable of all the TCP/IP
services available. |
Spam
Unsolicited email messages
or Newsgroups
postings, usually advertising a product. |
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T1
A type of data connection able to transmit a digital signal at 1.544
megabits per second. |
TCP/IP
Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The protocol suite that make
Telnet, FTP, email,
and other services possible among computers that aren't on the same local
area network. |
Telnet
The Protocol for remote terminal connection service. It lets someone at
one site interact with a remote computer as if that user's terminal were
directly connected to the remote site. |
Transparent
GIF
A GIF that has one of its colors set to be transparent. When displayed
against a background tile or color, the image will appear to float above
it. |
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Unix
An operating system invented in 1969 at AT&T Bell Laboratories that
was made available to researchers and students in 1973. It was used to
develop the Internet's communication protocols. |
URL
Uniform Resource Locator. Describes the location and access method of a
resource on the Internet. This is also known as the "Web
site address." |
Usenet
Newsgroups
Subject-specific discussion forums
stored on remote computers. |
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VRLM
Virtual Reality Language Modeling. An emerging standard that will let you
model and move around in 3-D environments on the Internet. |
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World Wide Web
A collection of electronic documents loosely knit by a concept called
"hypertext." Documents connect to each other by clickable
"hyperlinks." You need to run a browser
program to access the Web. |
